
23/08/2025
Approximately 25.1 miles long (about 40.4 km), Rhode Island Route 116 stretches from Coventry in the south to Cumberland in the north, traveling through Providence and Kent counties  .
Starting at a junction with Routes 33 and 117 in Coventry, it heads north as Knotty Oak Road for roughly 2.7 miles until reaching the Scituate town line . Within Scituate, the highway continues for about 9.5 miles, intersecting major routes such as RI-115, RI-12, RI-14, and US 6 .
It passes briefly through Glocester—about 0.6 miles—before entering Smithfield, where it joins US 44 for a short 0.5-mile concurrency. The route then veers northeast along Pleasant View Avenue, meeting Route 104 and sharing the road northward with it for a stretch .
From there, it becomes the George Washington Highway—a two-lane rural expressway with a 50 mph speed limit—that continues east to its terminus at Route 114 in Cumberland .
Along the way, Route 116 serves as a significant corridor through Lincoln, Cumberland, and parts of Smithfield . A notable engineering feature is the interchange with Route 146—the first cloverleaf constructed in Rhode Island. Over time, modifications to this interchange removed several curved ramps, added controlled signal intersections, and ultimately provided full access with turn lanes and reconfigured ramps by 2019 .
This route is known for its scenic qualities. According to contributors on Reddit:
“Route 116 can be scenic. It starts up near the Lincoln Mall, where it’s called the George Washington Highway, goes in a big semi-circle for 25 miles (alongside the Scituate Reservoir for a while) and ends at Routes 117 and 33 in Coventry” .
Historically and contextually, the Ashton Viaduct along Washington Highway (part of Route 116) is significant—it spans the Blackstone River, the Blackstone Canal, and railroad tracks at Ashton in Providence County. This open-spandrel bridge is recognized for its engineering importance and is listed in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor .
Summing things up, Route 116 is more than just a connector between Coventry and Cumberland—it’s a blend of functional roadway and historical, scenic passage. It meanders through rural landscapes, skirts reservoirs, and includes notable infrastructure like early cloverleaf interchanges and the Ashton Viaduct.